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Sassanian Persian - Roman four horned saddle

This is a construction of a Sassanian Cavalry Saddle / Roman Cavalry Saddle. This saddle is also called the Sassanian Four Horned or Roman Four Horned Saddle. This saddle is based on the existing stone representations on Sassanian Persian and Roman Cavalry reliefs. This particular Sassanian Four Horn Saddle is constructed to accommodate both Sassanian and Roman Cavalry Impressions. All of the materials used in this saddle are made from authentic materials and made and constructed by hand.

The four horned cavalry saddle is a unique saddle in military history. As far as we know this saddle has existed from the potentially the 1st century BC up until the 5-6 Century BC. It is very difficult to say when the saddle was exactly first introduced and how it faded out. We know that the saddle was introduced to the cavalry to add support to the rider during the rigours of combat. The added support to the riders thighs act almost as stirrups do. The rider is both locked in the front and in the rear of the saddle. Thus offering a rider far more support than the previous cavalries had.

What is not known is whether this saddle eventually had stirrups added to it and then it was phased out to the steppe saddle. The base tree of this saddle is the same as base of the early steppe saddle. So the eventual adding of stirrups and the removal of the horns seems to be a natural evolution. This saddle is made to accommodate the option of adding stirrups to it.

The Sassanian and Roman Four Horned saddle is also used by other cultures and also referred to as the Celtic Saddle as well. It is unclear where this saddle first appeared. But the evolution of equestrian equipment seems to primarily focus on the regions of north west India, Iran and the Steppe areas of Southern Russia and migrate west. Regardless, this saddle is a representation of a hard framed four horn saddle used by Persian, Roman and Celtic Cavalries.